MERALCO’S Reynel Hugnatan (left) and Cliff Hodge beat Sean Anthony of NLEX to the rebound in last night’s decisive fourth quarter at the Big Dome. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
WITH a twice-to-beat advantage for the first time in franchise history, Meralco needed to dig deep last night to not put it to waste.
The Bolts rallied from several double-digit deficits in the first half and from nine down in the fourth quarter before winning out in a pulsating endgame against sister team NLEX, 104-97, to clinch the first semifinal berth in Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Several men stood out for the Bolts, who entered the conference’s Final Four for the second successive year, to ease import Arinze Onuaku’s difficult night.
Eighth-ranked Star forged a you-or-me game against top-seeded San Miguel Beer after finally finding an offensive rhythm behind Peter June Simon and import Ricardo Ratliffe in the fourth period to pound out a 108-99 win.
The Hotshots trailed by as many as 13 points early, slowly crawled their way back into it before dropping a 14-0 bomb that turned an 87-89 deficit into a 101-89 lead heading into the final 2:41.
The rubber match of this matchup, where the winner clashes with the survivor of the Rain or Shine-Barangay Ginebra series, is set tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Ratliffe finished with 33 points and a tournament-high 29 rebounds, while Simon fired 22 and Allein Maliksi had 23.
June Mar Fajardo, the reigning two-time MVP, had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Tyler Wilkerson had 22 and 14 for the Beermen.
Reynel Hugnatan scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth period and rookie Chris Newsome hit seven before Onuaku tipped in a Jared Dillinger miss with 28 seconds left to finally put the Bolts beyond recall, 98-94.
It was Onuaku’s biggest basket of the game as the hulking import struggled against the double-teaming defense of the Road Warriors whenever he got a touch inside.
“It was a hard-fought game and we had a difficult time breaking their (inside) defense,” Meralco coach Norman Black said.
“Solving that would say how far we can go (the rest of the playoffs).”
Second seed Meralco also made it to the Final Four last year but bombed out with hardly a fight against Rain or Shine after import Josh Davis got injured.
Cliff Hodge had 19 points and nine rebounds, Dillinger scored 18 and Newsome added 15 to highlight a total team effort for the Bolts, who drew 13 points and 11 boards from Onuaku.
The Bolts now await the winner of the Alaska-Tropang TNT series—which the Texters lead, 1-0—as a semifinal foe.
The scores:
First Game
MERALCO 104—Hugnatan 20, Hodge 19, Dillinger 18, Newsome 15, Onuaku 13, Amer 9, Alapag 8, Caram 2, Buenafe Ro. 0, Buenafe Ry. 0, Ferriols 0.
NLEX 97—Thornton 38, Lanete 21, Enciso 9, Borboran 8, Taulava 8, Anthony 6, Alas 4, Villanueva J. 2, Villanueva E. 0.
Quarters: 19-22, 38-43, 70-71, 104-97
Second Game
STAR 108—Ratliffe 33, Maliksi 23, Simon 22, Barroca 10, Melton 8, Pingris 5, Reavis 5, Sangalang 2, Cruz 0.
SAN MIGUEL BEER 99—Fajardo 24, Wilkerson 22, Santos 16, Lassiter 11, David 8, Ross 8, Tubid 6, Cabagnot 2, Espinas 2, Arana 0, De Ocampo 0, Reyes 0.
Quarters: 20-26, 42-53, 74-75, 108-99